In giving this testimony of...

Harrison M. Staley

In giving this testimony of healing, I feel I should first express my sincere appreciation to The Christian Science Board of Directors for their kindness in making it possible for me to be a guest at the Christian Science Benevolent Association in Chestnut Hill, and also to the Benevolent Association for the kindness and interest of the management there. I am also grateful for the tender care, the joy, and the untiring efforts of the nurses, for the love and friendliness of the Associates, and for the privilege of being a guest in its uplifting and inspiring atmosphere.

It was sometime in May, 1945, that I was taken there by a practitioner. I do not remember the trip out to the Sanatorium, and know nothing of what took place during the first three or four weeks there. I am told, however, that during this time I was under nursing care twenty-four hours a day. When I became conscious, it was impossible for me to walk. My first attempts were made only with the greatest effort on my part and the kindly assistance of the nurses. But each day brought more freedom, a clearer comprehension of God, my strength and my Life, and more gratitude for all those who were so patient and strong in their support.

I had also lost my voice, and after a time stopped attending the evening song service, for it seemed useless to go when I was unable to join in the singing. The fear of not regaining my voice and of being unable to go on with my work presented itself to me with many other arguments, so I asked the practitioner for special help. On the third day my thought was so filled with joy and gratitude that I requested the nurse to take me to the song service that evening. With the beginning of the first hymn, I opened my mouth and my voice came out clearer than ever before. As David sang (Ps. 51:15), "O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise," so I felt I could and should sing praises unto our God. There has been no return of the trouble.

Within another week, I was walking through the building alone, and a few days later ventured out in the yard with one of the nurses. This brought my release from the bondage of fear, and from that time on I walked alone wherever I wished, completely free. Guests meeting me for the first time thought I was there simply for a few days' rest. There was no physical or mental scar, nothing to suggest that I might have been ill. The first thing I remember saying after regaining consciousness is, "Nothing has happened," and I have clung to this truth ever since.

The experience has brought to me an ever-increasing gratitude and appreciation of our beloved Leader's lifework and her example of selflessness and humility. For her great love for all mankind and the tremendous sacrifice she made to present this Science to the world, I am humbly grateful. I also feel that the place filled by the Christian Science Benevolent Association in Chestnut Hill in its healing of the sick, its comforting of the sorrowing, and its reforming of the sinning, is beyond human estimation. For the devotion of the practitioner, and for my teacher in Christian Science, both of whom stood by so fearlessly, I wish to express my unbounded love and gratitude.

At this time I wish also to express my great appreciation for the many opportunities I had, when a young man, to carry messages from the office of the Committee on Publication in Boston to Mrs. Eddy's home in Concord, New Hampshire, and to Chestnut Hill after she moved there. On many of these occasions it was my privilege to see our beloved Leader. Once when her carriage passed by, she leaned forward, smiled, and waved her hand to friends and to me. Unless one has seen Mrs. Eddy smile, one can never picture anything quite so lovely. With her beautiful white hair and her pink-and-white complexion, she was like some exquisite miniature, or a bit of the rarest Dresden china, yet there was no thought of her being frail. On the other hand, I was so impressed by her sense of strength that I was lifted up and felt a great freedom.—Harrison M. Staley, Boston, Massachusetts.

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Testimony of Healing

It is with sincere gratitude for...

March 15, 1947

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